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82 people killed; 192 wounded as explosions strike Syrian university

By Hwaida Saadand Rick Gladstone New York Times News Service

Posted:
01/15/2013 11:03:24 PM MST

Updated:
01/15/2013 11:04:34 PM MST

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Free Syrian Army fighters run for cover during clashes with government forces in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013. Two explosions struck the main university in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, causing an unknown number of casualties, state media and anti-government activists said.

BEIRUT -- At least two deadly explosions, possibly caused by airstrikes or bombs, devastated the campus of Aleppo University in Syria on Tuesday as students were taking exams, a major escalation of the violent struggle for control of the country's largest city. The opposition and government blamed each other for the blasts, among the worst since the Syrian conflict began nearly two years ago.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, said at a Security Council meeting that 82 people were killed and 192 wounded in the explosions, which he called a terrorist attack. Opposition sympathizers said more than 50 people were killed.

The carnage at the public university, the premier educational institution in Aleppo, shocked Syrians inured to violence and brought an unusually intense round of speculation and mutual recrimination.

The toll was extraordinarily high even for Syria's bloody conflict. The target was mysterious. The university has been a center of anti-government demonstrations but is in a government-held area, so neither side had an obvious reason to strike. And there was horror that the explosions struck as students tried to go about their studies normally, even after people who had fled the fighting in other Aleppo neighborhoods had taken up residence in a dormitory, which was hit by a blast.

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"The most painful scene was a chopped hand with a pen and notebook right next to it," an education student who identified himself as Abu Tayem said over Skype. "I saw blood, flesh littered all around."

The university's press office appeared to have issued a statement accusing Syrian air force MiG fighter planes of targeting the campus in two missile attacks three minutes apart, destroying buildings and causing "massive destruction in the surrounding roads." The statement denounced the attacks as a "criminal act."

But it was unclear if the statement, which was posted on an opposition Facebook page, reflected the view of the leadership of the government-run university.

The government, too, appeared to realize the impact of the event, issuing an unusual statement casting President Bashar Assad as coming to the school's rescue. The Education Ministry said in a statement that the president would oversee reconstruction "immediately to secure the functioning of the teaching process."

Aleppo, in northern Syria, has essentially been a battleground since July. But the campus area had been largely spared until Tuesday.

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